Des qualified as a geologist and joined the Assore group in 1968. He was appointed to the Assore board in 1974 and, on the retirement of his father, Guido, in 1992, was appointed Chairman and Managing Director. In that year, he was also appointed Deputy Chairman of Assmang Limited and in 1999 he became Chairman of Assmang. He is a fellow of the Institute of Directors (IoD) and of the Geological Society of South Africa (GSSA).

Chris completed articles with Alex, Aiken & Carter (now KPMG) and qualified as a chartered accountant in 1982. In 1989, he joined the Assore group as Group Accountant. In 1992, he was appointed Group Financial Director and made Chief Executive Officer in June 2004 when the roles of Chairman and Managing Director were split. He was appointed to the Assmang board as a non-executive director in 1993 and currently chairs the Assmang Audit Committee. He is a member of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA).

Pat joined the Assore group in 2003 after completing a master’s degree at the University of Colorado (USA). He was appointed a director of Ore & Metal, the selling and marketing agent for all the group’s products, in 2007, and as from 1 March 2016, has been appointed as its Managing Director. Pat was appointed as a director of Assmang in 2008, and is on the board of Oresteel Investments Proprietary Limited, the ultimate holding company of Assore. On 1 July 2015, he was appointed as a director of the International Manganese Institute (IMnI) and was appointed as Group Marketing Director on 1 March 2016.

Tiaan obtained a BEng (Metallurgy) from the University of Pretoria (UP) in 1982 and later obtained BCom (Unisa) and MEng (UP) degrees. After working for Iscor and Samancor in production and on projects, he was appointed by Samancor as General Manager of the Palmiet Ferrochrome Operation (Mogale) in 1999. He joined Assore in 2003 as Consulting Metallurgist and is a member of the Assmang Operations Committee. In September 2012, he was appointed Group Technical and Operations Director of Assore and a director of Assmang. In June 2014, he was appointed as Chairman of Assmang subsidiary, Sakura Ferroalloys SDN BHD, Malaysia.

Independent non-executive directors

Deputy Chairman and lead independent non-executive director

Independent non‑executive director

Independent non‑executive director

Independent non‑executive director

Edward M Southey

Thandeka N Mgoduso

Sydney Mhlarhi

William F Urmson

BA, LLB

BA, MA (Clinical Psychology)

BCom, BAcc, CA(SA)

CA(SA)

Ed was admitted as an attorney, notary and conveyancer in 1967 and practiced as a partner of Webber Wentzel until his retirement as senior partner of that firm in 2006. He remains an executive consultant to the firm. He is a former president of the Law Society of the Northern Province and of the Law Society of South Africa and is a director of a number of companies. He joined the Assore board as a nonexecutive director in January 2009, and was appointed as Deputy Chairman and lead independent director in November 2010. He is the chairman of the group’s Audit and Risk, and Remuneration Committees.

Thandeka is a clinical psychologist and obtained her qualifications at the universities of Fort Hare and the Witwatersrand. While in commerce, she held various leadership positions in operations, as well as inhuman resources, including a non-executive directorship of the South African Reserve Bank, and currently consults in strategy and human resources. She chairs her company, Jojose Investments, and is a non-executive director on the board of Tongaat Hulett. She was appointed to the board with effect from 2 February 2015 and serves on the Social and Ethics Committee.

Sydney qualified as a chartered accountant in 1998 following the completion of his articles at Ernst & Young in 1997. He co-founded Tamela Holdings Proprietary Limited (Tamela) in 2008, which holds investments in various industries. Sydney has held various senior positions in the investment banking sector, including those of divisional director at Standard Bank and Chief Investment Officer of Makalani Holdings Limited, a mezzanine financier which listed on the JSE in 2005. Sydney was appointed to the board on 15 October 2012 and serves on the group’s Audit and Risk Committee.

Bill was appointed as an independent non-executive director in October 2010 and chairs the group’s Social and Ethics Committee. He also serves on the group’s Audit and Risk, and Remuneration Committees. He is a former Deputy Chairman of Ernst & Young and has served the accounting profession as Chairman of the Accounting Practices and Ethics Committees of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants. He is a former director: surveillance of the JSE and consulted to the exchange on a part-time basis until December 2013.